(1) NP (2) JP (3) GP v (1) A LOCAL AUTHORITY (2) NN (3-5) TN, JN & AN (BY THEIR CHILDREN’S GUARDIAN) (2020)

Chris Barnes represented the mother in her successful appeal against interim care orders approving the separation of 3 children from their grandparents, with whom they had lived for some 18-months.

The decision of the Court of Appeal emphasises again the high bar that must be applied to cases of interim separation and the need for judges at first instance to properly analyse the balance of harm on any application for interim removal.

In the context of the Covid-19 pandemic the judgment also serves as a reminder of the duty placed upon local authorities to ensure that the information they place before the court is accurate with that responsibility being “if anything, even more acute in the inevitably imperfect circumstances of a remote hearing”.

To read the full judgement click here.